 Welcome to the Hindu News Analysis by Shankar IA's Academy dated 28th April 2019. Displayed are the list of news articles taken up for today's analysis from Chennai, Bengaluru, Delhi and Thiruvananthapuram editions. The handwritten notes in PDF format and time stamping of the news articles is given in the description section below. For the benefit of the smartphone users, the time stamping of news articles is given in the comment section The first news article is address the innovation deficit in neglected diseases. This news article appears in Science column in page 13 of Chennai edition and in page 15 of Bengaluru, Delhi and Thiruvananthapuram editions. This news article will be relevant in your prelims preparation under current affairs of national importance and under general science and in your mains preparation in general studies paper 2 under government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation and next under issues relating to development and management of social sector or services relating to health in particular. This news article discusses about the need of the government of India to increase the research funding and formulate policies to incentivize the pharmaceutical industry in drug development for treating the neglected diseases. So, we shall know what the neglected tropical diseases are, challenges faced in India to address these neglected diseases and some suggestions to improve the present situation. The author of this news article appreciates the fact that India is the fourth largest funder in the research and development of the neglected diseases which was reported in G finder survey. But the author has also listed the challenges and suggestions to tackle the prevalence of these neglected diseases. As per World Health Organization, the correct term is neglected tropical diseases. They are a diverse group of communicable diseases that prevail in the tropical and subtropical condition in 149 countries. Populations living in poverty without adequate sanitation and in close contact with infectious vectors and domestic animals and livestock are those worst affected ones. Generally, these diseases are more prevalent in the developing countries. Some of the diseases classified as neglected tropical diseases by World Health Organization are chikungunya, leishmaniasis, also called kala azar disease, dengue, leprosy, lymphatic filariasis, rabies, etc. In the news article, malaria and tuberculosis are listed as examples of neglected diseases. It is wrong, so do not include them under neglected tropical diseases. The author has listed some of the challenges in India to reduce the prevalence of neglected diseases. India suffers from serious innovation deficit, but there is a lack of innovation for drugs, diagnostics and vaccines for the basket of diseases mentioned before. Also, the market size of these drugs is very small. So, generally the pharma companies do not spend a lot of their time, money and effort in drug development as it would not be profitable in the long run for them. The author explains this innovation deficit with a historical narrative. Just know this narrative from a knowledge perspective. This innovation deficit is caused by the prevailing model of pharmaceutical innovation. Drug discovery came about as a key component of modern medicine towards the end of the 19th century. Till mid 20th century, this was mostly carried out in academic settings. By the middle of the 20th century, it became an endeavour that was largely driven by pharmaceutical companies. The second half of the 20th century saw consolidation of pharmaceutical entities leading to multinational pharmaceutical companies who drive innovation in the pharmaceutical sector. The business model of pharmaceutical innovation is market driven and the governments have largely adapted a hands-off policy letting the market forces to work across the world. Hence, we can see that there is a huge lack of public health policies in India to address each of these neglected diseases, though new drugs, diagnostics or vaccines are subject to strict regulatory control by the government of India. The author of this news article also discusses in brief about orphan diseases. As per Food and Drug Administration, in short FDA of the country of USA, an orphan disease is defined as a condition that affects fewer than 2 lakh people nationwide that is in USA. USA has enacted Orphan Drugs Act that comprehensively covers the policies for addressing the orphan diseases in its country. They include provisions for drug development grants, tax credits, two drug-producing companies, fast-track regulatory approvals for bringing the orphan drugs to market, seven-year exclusivity provision and also fee reductions in certain special cases. Thus, a comprehensive policy formulation by USA can be seen here. Now, in the final part of the news article, the author has given some suggestions to reduce, eliminate and eradicate the neglected diseases. Firstly, the author asks policy makers to learn from the global examples. In countries like United Kingdom, Denmark, France, Italy, Sweden and Spain, there are public policies for the treatment of rare diseases. Now, rare diseases is a term given by the European Union similar to orphan diseases by USA. Rare diseases are one that affects less than 5 in 10,000 of the general population. Also, in USA, there are policies to support drug development for the orphan diseases which we saw recently. Next, the author emphasizes that India should create a comprehensive policy supporting the research and development, marketing and treatment of the neglected diseases. India should also aim to eliminate these neglected diseases in this regard. This will also help India to meet its sustainable development goals. Health is addressed in Sustainable Development Goal number 3, ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages. Next, the author proposes to establish a biomedical observatory to record and monitor the ongoing research and development activities on neglected diseases. Finally, the author emphasizes the fact that Indian government should commit to a sustained and long-term funding in order to reduce, eliminate and eradicate the neglected diseases. With this, we come to the end of the analysis of this news article. Have a look at the practice prelims and main question. We shall discuss at the end of the session. Let us now move on to the next news article. The second news article taken up for today's discussion is Stop Sale of Johnson's Baby Shampoo, NCPCR. This news article appears in page number 7 of Chennai, Bengaluru and Trivanandapuram editions and in page 9 of Delhi edition. This news article will be relevant in your prelims preparation under current affairs of national importance, under general science and under economic and social development, since we will be discussing about NCPCR in brief. This news article states that the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights has asked all these states to stop the sale of Johnson and Johnson Baby Shampoo since the drug testing laboratory in Jaipur has found the presence of formaldehyde in Johnson and Johnson's Baby Shampoo, declaring it substandard quality. Formaldehyde exposure among children is likely to cause asthma. It is also known to trigger acute adverse health effects such as skin, eye, nose and throat irritations. Now, let us see some other controversial chemicals that are found in commonly used materials which were recently in news. First, paper is coated with mineral oil to give an extra shine. Next, milk is found adulterated with common adulterants like caustic soda and detergents. A recent news article reported the presence of asbestos particles in talc manufacturing. Recently, FSSAI has come up with a new method to detect the adulteration in ghee with vegetable oils. Also, Rajasthan Human Rights body has taken sewer motor cognizance over reports alleging adulteration in food items like coating of banned food dyes in rajma beans to enrich their color. Now, let us know in detail about NCPCR, National Commission for Protection of Child Rights. This National Commission for Protection of Child Rights is constituted by the Government of India as per the provisions of Commission for Child Rights Act 2005. Hence, this commission is a statutory body. Remember, if any administrative body is formed as per the provisions of some statute or law, then it is called as a statutory body. Next, this NCPCR consists of a chairperson and six other members where two members must be compulsorily women. National Commission for Protection for Child Rights comes under the Ages of Ministry of Women and Child Development. Any individual between age 0 and 18 years are classified as children by this commission. Priorities given to the most vulnerable children from the backward regions or backward communities who are marginalized and disadvantaged. NCPCR emphasizes the principle of universality and inviolability of child rights, meaning securing all the children of India from any sort of violations that affects the children. Violations can be broadly classified as mental and physical harassment. Hence, National Commission for Protection for Child Rights recognizes the tone of urgency in all child-related policies of both the central government and state governments in India. You need to know that India is a signatory to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child in short called as UNCRC. National Commission for Protection for Child Rights as also has certain other responsibilities vested upon it under other acts. It acts as a monitoring authority on all policies and decisions that protect the children from sexual offenses as per the provisions of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences POCSO Act of 2012. National Commission for Protection for Child Rights has the responsibility to inquire into complaints relating to child's right to free and compulsory education as per the provision of Right to Education Act of 2009. With this, we come to the end of the analysis of this news article. Have a look at the practice prelims question we shall discuss at the end of the session. Let us now move on to the next news article. The third news article of the day is Data Theft Bit Hits Aishman Bharat. This particular news article appears in page number 7 of Chennai, Bengaluru and Thiruvananthapuram editions and in page 9 of the Delhi edition. The information which will be discussed based on this article is relevant under the preliminary examination syllabus in the area Indian Policy and Governance and Public Policy. It is also relevant in your main syllabus in General Studies Paper 2 under Government Policies and Interventions for Development in Various Sectors and Issues arising out of their design and implementation. Next under Welfare Schemes for Vulnerable Sections of the Population by the Center and States. Next under Issues relating to Development and Management of Social Sector or Services relating to Health. And also in General Studies Paper 3 under Science and Technology their developments and their applications and effects in everyday life and under awareness in the fields of information technology and issues relating to intellectual property rights in particular. The news article discusses about the Attempted Security Breach on the Platform of Aishman Bharat which is a Government-Trend Health Insurance Program. The attempt tried to illegally access large medical data which includes sensitive personal information about those covered by the scheme. And the health data is extremely sensitive and of great value to commercial and pharmaceutical companies. The officials told that the scheme has a stringent access system which alerted them about the breach immediately. And also the National Health Authority has written to all the state governments alerting them about the threat and warning that no sensitive data be shared. Now based on this news article and to understand the news fully it is important to know about the mentioned scheme and what actually is data theft in the examination point of view. Let us first see about Aishman Bharat. Aishman Bharat or Healthy India is a national initiative launched by the Prime Minister of India as a part of National Health Policy of 2017. This was introduced in order to achieve the vision of universal health coverage in short UHC. This initiative has been designed on the line so as to meet the Sustainable Development Goal No. 3 and its underlining commitment which is ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages. Aishman Bharat is an attempt to move from the sectoral and segmented approach of health service delivery to a comprehensive need-based healthcare service. Aishman Bharat aims to undertake interventions to holistically address health at primary, secondary and tertiary level. It covers prevention, promotion and ambulatory care which is a crucial part of the primary healthcare. Aishman Bharat comprises of two interrelated components which are the establishment of health and wellness centers and Pradhan Mantri Jan Arokaya Yojana or National Health Protection Mission. The first component establishment of health and wellness centers pertains to the creation of 150,000 health and wellness centers which will bring healthcare closer to the homes of the people across the country. These centers will provide comprehensive primary healthcare covering both maternal and child health services and non-communicable diseases where it includes free essential drugs and free diagnostic services. The second component Pradhan Mantri Jan Arokaya Yojana that is PMJ in short or National Health Protection Mission is one significant step towards the achievement of universal health coverage and sustainable development goal number three which was the main aim of Aishman Bharat. PMJ aims to provide health protection covered to poor and vulnerable families against the financial risk arising out of catastrophic health episodes because besides using their income and savings for healthcare needs people borrow money or sell their assets to meet their healthcare needs which pushes 4.6 percentage of the population below the poverty line according to the government data. So as a solution to this the government of India introduced the scheme so that people will have universal access to good quality healthcare services without anyone having to face financial hardship as a consequence. This mission subsumes the centrally sponsored schemes namely Rashtya Swastya Bhima Yojana in short RSBY and the senior citizen health insurance scheme in short SCHIS. So in this line the PMJ scheme will provide financial protection or Swastya Suraksha to 10.74 crore of the total population of the country who are poor and vulnerable families across the country. The poor and vulnerable families comprise of deprived rural families and occupational categories of urban workers families. These families will be identified based on the latest socio-economic caste census data as deprived rural families and occupational categories of urban workers families who were identified as per the latest socio-economic caste census data approximately 50 crore beneficiaries. The most important aspect of the scheme is it will offer an insurance benefit of Rs 5 lakh per family per year. This insurance will cover medical and hospitalization expenses for almost all secondary care and most of tertiary healthcare procedures. The health services covered under the program include hospitalization expenses, daycare surgeries, medical and daycare treatments including medicines, diagnostics and transport, follow-up care, pre and post hospitalization expense benefits and newborn child or children services. And to ensure that nobody is left out of the scheme especially girl child, women, children and elderly there will be no cap on family size and age in this mission. The scheme will be cashless and paperless at public hospitals and empanel private hospitals. In January 2019 for better implementation of Pradhan Mantri Jan Aroke Yojana the national health agency was dissolved and it was replaced by national health authority. Note that it is the national health authority which implements the prime minister Jan Aroke Yojana at the national level. Please keep this in mind. Now let us see some facts about data theft to have a basic understanding about it. Data theft is the act of stealing virtual information with intent to compromise someone's privacy or to obtain confidential information. Data theft includes stealing or hacking passwords, banking information, credit card information, personal information of users, information of importance to a corporate business or entity, hacking into government databases, stealing photographs and misusing them and many more in line with these. The Indian law provides for punishments and penalties for data crimes in the Information Technology Act of 2000 thus creating a mode of redressal for crimes undertaken with the help of technology as well as internet. But here if you see the crime is data theft so you can be confused about why this is not covered under IPC. It is because the Indian Penal Code deals with the theft and punishment for theft of movable property which includes all corporeal property. This means that data which is intangible is beyond the scope of the Indian Penal Code. However if the data is stored in a medium for example floppy disks, cd, pendripes, hard drives etc and then if that is stolen then the relevant section pertaining to theft in the Indian Penal Code can be applied and the accused will be criminally liable for the same. With this we come to the end of the analysis of this news article. Have a look at the practice prelims question. We shall discuss at the end of the analysis session. Let us now move on to the next news article. The fourth news article of the day is Coffee Planters Seek Mandate for Chikari Cut to Help Volume Growth. This news article appears in page number 11 in both Chennai and Tiruvananthapuram editions and in page 13 of both Bengaluru and Delhi editions. The article is regarding Food Safety and Standards Authority of India's recent proposal to bring down the Chikari content in coffee to 30%. This information will be helpful in your preliminary exam under current events of national importance and under general science and in your mains preparation in general studies paper 3 under major crops and issues and constraints. Let us now move on to the discussion. Chikari is a plant whose ground root when roasted is found to make a substitute for coffee. Due to this over a period of time Chikari powder is blended with coffee powder. Coffee Chikari powder is prepared by mixing the roasted and ground coffee with the roasted and ground Chikari. According to Indian standards IS 38002 is to 1992 Chikari shall be prepared in a clean and hygienic manner. The Indian standard also states that at any time in the coffee Chikari powder the Chikari content in roasted coffee Chikari powder shall not exceed 49%. Now, the news is that FSSAI has recommended to bring down the Chikari content to not more than 30% in the coffee powder. This was seen as a positive move by the coffee planters community as they feel such a reduction in Chikari composition in coffee powder will give instant boost to domestic consumption. It was understood that a reason for lower domestic consumption of coffee is because of this Chikari composition. People feel that the purity of coffee with its natural aroma and flavor is compromised by the addition of Chikari content in coffee powder. That is why coffee planters expect a demand boost from domestic economy because of this reduction in the composition of Chikari. Any increase in domestic consumption is a positive sign for coffee planters and therefore the coffee planter association are planning to organize nationwide or region wise coffee consumption campaigns to increase domestic coffee consumption. There was a news article in the Hindu newspaper on 14th April 2019 with the title India to Launch Coffee Consumption Drive. We have covered this particular news article in our Hindu news analysis session. The link for this particular session is available in the description section below. Please refer it. The news article has also noted that the coffee sector has been going through tough times in last several years and this is due to these following reasons such as falling prices, labor shortage, increasing labor costs, rise in fertilizer prices and vagaries of nature. That is a frequent change in the weather patterns that is happening throughout the country. All these have pushed the cost of production of coffee by 50%. It also adds that the white border attack which is a pest attack has brought down the production of coffee arabica variety by half further aggravating the prevailing tough conditions. With this we come to the end of the analysis of this news article. Have a look at the prelims question. We shall discuss at the end of the analysis session. Now let us move on to the next news article. The fifth news article of the day is selected from the magazine title a brief history of black holes. Magazine is common in all the editions. This article appears in page 14 in all the editions. The information which will be discussed based on this article is relevant in preliminary examination under current events of international importance and under general science. It is also relevant for main preparation in general studies paper three under awareness in the fields of space in particular. Now let us see about the black hole. The black hole is found in the center of galaxies which is formed by the collapsing of stars. The black hole emits radiation by particles within the disc which swirl around the black hole at the speed of light. It has a strong gravitational force which has the ability to pull all objects within it. Even light cannot escape. Also the center of the black hole contains only empty space. There are three types of black holes namely stellar, supermassive and intermediate. The stellar black hole is relatively smaller in size about three times the mass of the sun and it is formed by individual stars which are smaller in size. The second type supermassive black hole is million or billion times in size compared to the mass of the sun and it is formed by the merge of hundreds or thousands of tiny black holes. It is always present at the center of every galaxy even in our very own Milky Way galaxy. Next let us see the importance of black holes in the current context. The black hole images are captured for the very first time in science history. The image of the black hole present in the galaxy M87 or Virgo A were captured. This M87 galaxy is located 55 million light years away from the earth. The image of the black hole was captured by event horizon telescope. The event horizon telescope is an international collaboration consisting of six observatories from Hawaii to South Pole. They are located at Mexico, Hawaii, Arizona, Chile, Spain and at the South Pole. The capturing of the first image of the black hole helps in proving the Einstein's theory of general relativity. Albert Einstein was the first to predict the presence of a black hole with his theory of general relativity. According to this theory the weighted stars and planets will stretch the space causing distortions in the space. This distortion pulls the lighter and heavier bodies into its center. Generally time appears to move more slowly near massive objects because the gravitational force of these objects bend the space and time. This particular phenomenon is called gravitational time dilation. Keep this in mind. The Einstein equation also suggested the existence of a spatial entity called a naked singularity. The theory explains that the center of the gravitational field in the black hole will suck everything like matter, information and light once it crosses the event horizon which is also called as the point of no return. The event horizon or the point of no return is the boundary of the mouth of a black hole when objects like like once crossed will lose its ability to escape from it. The force of gravity is also constant across the event horizon. Now let us see about the advantages in future after capturing this particular black hole image by the scientists. The finding of the black hole and its image will help in finding how M87 galaxy launches such as bright plasma jets. Next it will also help in finding how gas falls into the black hole and feeds it. It will also help in solving the mystery of how black hole grew in size. If you see the gravitational waves were detected by LIGO observatory in the year 2015 due to the collision of black holes. This finding will also help LIZA in observing the gravitational waves and the movement of black holes in the outer space. LIZA stands for laser interferometer space antenna. It is a space based gravitational wave observatory. With this we come to the end of the analysis of this particular news article. Have a look at the practice prelims question. We shall discuss at the end of the analysis session. The sixth and the last news article of the day is pharma exports grow 11% across 19 billion dollars. This news article appears in business column in page number 11 in both Chennai and Trivanandapuram editions and in page 13 in both Bengaluru and Delhi editions. The article is about the growth in pharmaceutical exports registered in the financial year 2019 that is 2018 to 2019 over the previous year. The information in the article will be useful in your prelims preparation under current events of national importance and under economic development and in mains in general studies paper 2 under government interventions in various sectors for development and in general studies paper 3 under Indian economy. The article states that the Indian pharma exports have recorded a growth of 10.72% in the year 2018 to 2019 over the previous year that is 2017 to 2018. The exports in 2018-19 year has seen a growth of 25% over the year 2011 and 12. All segments recorded growth except herbal products. Nearly 30% of Indian exports have gone to the United States of America. This information was based on the details from the Pharmaceuticals Export Promotion Council of India which was set up by the Ministry of Commerce and Industries Government of India. This particular council was set up on 1st of April 2004 to act as a nodal agency for issue of registration and membership certificates for the exporting entities. It is a non-profit company within the meaning of Section 8 of the Companies Act 2013. Among the categories, drug formulations and biologicals have dominated the exports in terms of value and volume. They share almost 71% in the total pharma exports. Next comes the bulk drugs and drug intermediaries with a share of around 20% in the total exports. The article notes the recent performance of pharma exports in the challenging circumstances. Despite the challenges such as increased regulatory scrutiny, the pressure on profit margins owing to mounting competition, the need to geographically diversify the market, this was needed because the price controls in one country shall not have a negative impact over the exports in the sector. Other factors that posed challenges were the effects of declining growth in 2016-17, price control in Germany, Brexit and the restricted access in the United States for Indian pharma exports. Price controls have impact because they limit the profit margins of the companies in the exports of pharmaceutical industry. The final note is that while the growth is a positive factor, there is still loss of mandates in work owing to inability in meeting the standards prescribed by the regulatory authorities. Therefore, maintaining good manufacturing practices is required in the industry. Now, after the look at the prelims question, we shall discuss at the end of the session. With this, we come to the end of the analysis session of all the news articles of today. Let us now move on to the practice questions discussion session. Question one, as per World Health Organization, which of the following diseases are classified as neglected tropical diseases? Statement one, tuberculosis, two, dengue, three, lymphatic filariasis, number four, leprosy and number five, leishmaniasis. Some of the diseases classified by World Health Organization as neglected tropical diseases are, chikungunya, leishmaniasis, also called kala azar disease, dengue, leprosy, lymphatic filariasis, rabies, etc. Tuberculosis is not classified by World Health Organization as a neglected tropical disease. So, if number one is eliminated, the correct answer is option C, two, three, four and five only. Let us move on to the next question. Consider the following statements. Statement one, National Commission of Protection of Child Rights is a statutory body. NCPCR works under the Agents of Ministry of Women and Child Development. India is not a signatory to U1CRC, U1 Convention on the Rights of the Child, which is the third statement. Here, the first statement is correct. National Commission of Protection of Child Rights is formed as per the Provisions of Commission for Child Rights Act of 2005. Hence, it is a statutory body. The second statement is also correct. NCPCR works under the Agents of Ministry of Women and Child Development. The third statement here is wrong. India is a signatory to the U1CRC, the U1 Convention on the Rights of the Child. So, the correct answer here is option B, one and two only since statement three is wrong. Moving on to the third question, which of the following statements is our correct regarding Pradhan Mantri Jan Arokay Yojana? Statement one is the scheme will cover expenses for primary healthcare. Statement two is it provides for a benefit of Rs. 5 lakh per family per year to the BPL families. And statement three is the benefits include pre-hospitalization expenses and post-hospitalization expenses. The first statement is incorrect because the primary healthcare are provided by the Health and Wellness Centers and not by PM Jan Arokay Yojana. The second statement here is partially correct because the scheme gives a benefit of Rs. 5 lakh per family per year but not to the BPL families. The benefit is only for the poor and vulnerable, deprived rural families and occupational categories of urban workers families. And statement two here is wrong. The third statement is correct as the scheme covers both the pre- and post-hospitalization expenses. So, the correct answer to this particular question is option C, three only since statement one and two are wrong. Moving on to the fourth question, the term white stem borer attack is recently seen in the news. It denotes which of the following. As we saw in our discussion, white stem borer is the most serious pest affecting the Arabica coffee variety in India. The attack of this particular pest causes yellowing and wilting of leaves and branches. Affected branches are easily broken off because of this pest. The affected plants are less productive. So, the correct answer here is option A, pest attack in coffee Arabica variety. Next question with reference to gravitational time dilation which of the following statements are true. Statement one is it slows the time where gravity is strong and statement two is gravity bends the space and time causing time dilation. Here both these statements are correct as discussed during our analysis. So, the correct answer here is option C both one and two. Moving on to the final problem's question, consider the following statements the pharmaceutical exports in India in the year 2018-19 as registered a higher growth over the exports in the year 2017-18 and statement two is the growth of pharmaceutical exports is not declined in the last five years. Here the first statement is correct as we know from the details given by the Pharmaceutical Export Promotion Council of India that we discussed during our analysis. The second statement here is wrong because the growth in pharma exports declined in the year 2016-17 which we mentioned in our analysis if we compare over the last five years. So, the correct answer here is option A one only because statement two is wrong. Let us now move on to a practice mains question. The question is India has a high prevalence of neglected tropical diseases such as some measures that the government should take to eradicate them. The first part of the question is India has a high prevalence of neglected tropical diseases. Explain what is meant by neglected tropical diseases then list some of the diseases which have been declared by WHO as neglected tropical diseases and then explain their prevalence in India region wise if you have the data. The second part of the question demands to suggest some measures that the government should take in order to eradicate these neglected tropical diseases. You can refer to our analysis and also you can add your own relevant suggestions. With this, we come to the end of the practice question answer session and also the end of today's discussion. Please do like comment and share the video and please subscribe to Shankar IAS Academy channel for latest videos and updates. Stay focused and motivated friends. Thank you.